Former US Secretary of State surrenders personal email for investigation

onnaedo

March 5, 2015 12:22 PM

Breaking her silence on the budding controversy following allegations that she inappropriately used her personal email for work while she was secretary of state, Clinton has given her consent to make her emails public.

Former United States First Lady and Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton has asked the US State Department to release her emails in the wake of the controversy that she used her personal email for work during her time as secretary of state.

Breaking her silence on the matter, Clinton sent out a tweet giving her consent to the State Department to make her emails public:

"I want the public to see my email. I asked State to release them. They said they will review them for release as soon as possible." the tweet said.

Clinton is currently in the middle of a budding controversy following allegations that she inappropriately used her personal email for work while secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

Before her tweet, a congressional committee investigating the September 11, 2012 attack on a U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya had issued subpoenas for her emails, prompting Mrs Clinton to break her silence on the matter.

The US House of Representatives' Select Committee on Benghazi demanded all communications from Clinton related to the incident, in which a US ambassador was killed.

The Telegraph reports that Republicans have been scrutinizing Clinton's actions and communications surrounding the Benghazi attack, when Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others were killed during an assault on the U.S. consulate. Republican lawmakers believe she did not do enough to ensure the safety of Americans in Libya.

Meanwhile, the State Department has defended Clinton, saying that at the time there was no prohibition on using a personal email account for official business as long as it was preserved. Experts have however called her use of personal email highly unusual, saying that her practise possibly left her communications open to hacking.

The controversy has suddenly put Clinton in a tough spot just as she is planning to launch a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016. Reports state that it has prompted some Democrats to wonder whether someone else from their party should be their candidate to succeed President Barack Obama.

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